Shoutout to John_A_Mandrake and Seydeen for the powerstones!!
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The next day, Carter went around the island, helping out with the more physically demanding tasks as the villagers gladly put him to work. As the day went on, he noticed how Izuku and Katsumi kept getting pranked by two little kids, and he thought about stepping in to help, but decided not to since they weren't bothering him just yet.
At lunchtime, the boy did work up the courage to approach him, though. "Hi, what's your quirk? It looks cool!" He said as he took another bite of his sandwich. He just glanced at the kid and kept on eating as Izuku walked over. "Hey, Katsuma! That's Carter, he doesn't talk much, but his quirk is pretty cool." He said, giving him a pointed glance as he sighed.
He took out his wings, which were those of a Seawings, as the boy's eyes went wide in wonder. He kept asking different questions, but thankfully, Izuku answered them all by the time he was finished eating as he took to the air, eager to escape them.
By the time sunset rolls around, Carter is back in the water doing laps around the island. As he finishes another and stops near the port, he notices a ferry speeding up. Moving to stop it, he slams his shoulder into the stern, smashing through it as it comes to a halt.
Upon deck Nine and his crew decide to abandon ship early as seawater rushes in, as Carter starts to claw his way up through the deck. "Distract the dragon and cause chaos, I'll find the kids." He commands before running off as they get to work.
Reaching the top deck, Carter brushes off some debris before feeling impacts along his wings. Looking up, he spots a woman with luscious hair destroying the harbor before turning her attention to him. Waving her hair around like a whip, she lashes at him, but it doesn't even leave a mark, much less injure him. "Not worth my time, I'll leave the other handle to you." He snorts as he takes to the air, leaving a very confused and slightly upset Slice behind.
Flying over the shopping mall, Carter noticed another villain fighting a group of students. Seeing how they were struggling, he was about to go and help before Katsumi, Kirishima, and Denki arrived to help. He's about to leave, seeing they have it covered before the villain spots him and decides to attack. Wrapping a bus and turning it into a puppet, Mummy sends it after Carter before turning his attention back to the students.
Faced with the mummified bus, Carter almost feels insulted. Sure, his Seawing form can't use fire or ice, but it's still much stronger than a bundle of bandages. He proves this by ripping the thing in half before looking to see that Katsumi has gotten wrapped up, with her gauntlets and costume being used to puppet her into attacking the others. He grins at the idea of her swearing up a storm inside before Katsumi manages to detonate one of her gauntlets, shredding the bandages holding her as she knocks the villain unconscious.
"Hey man, nice take down!" Kirishima shouts as Katsumi glares at them before dragging the villain who is now bound away. He wonders what's wrong with her, but doesn't dwell on it as he takes off to see if there are any other villains.
Hearing the sounds of battle on the beach, he goes to investigate before spotting Izuku down in the forest fighting a villain. Normally, he wouldn't care if he was fighting, but he looked closer at the villain and sensed the same energy he felt in AFO, so he decided it was worth his time.
Crashing through the trees, he noticed two small children, the ones who had been messing with Katsumi and Izuku, were there, so he shielded them with his wings as Izuku crashed into his forearm after being thrown away by an air blast. "I was warned to stay away from you. I can see why." The man said as Izuku stood up, ready to keep going. "How did you get that quirk?" Carter asked as the man froze. He had only told his team, other than the Doctor and himself, who would have told him?!
"Don't bother denying it, I can sense the energy on you, as well as your imminent demise. What is it, cancer, cellular degradation?" He went on as Izuku checked on the kids, "Be careful, he has the same quirk as All For One, that air cannon is no joke!" He said as Carter rolled his eyes.
"How strange, I can only sense one quirk within you, and it's not the one making you a dragon?" Nine murmured as Carter lowered his wings, stepping forward to tower over him. "I can cure you; we need not be enemies." He said as Nine's eyes widened.
Before Nine could respond, he threw up an air barrier as Katsumi blasted him with an AP shot, cracking the shield as it barely held. "Less talking, more fighting!" She roared as Izuku rushed in behind her. Seeing them go at it, Carter scooped up the children before taking to the air and going to where the rest of the class had set up a makeshift hospital. "Why did we leave them? You have to go back and help!"
"What matters is your safety; they can take care of themselves for a bit." He said as he deposited the children outside the clinic. Taking them inside, he had Momo check on them as she filled him in on what had happened. "A total of four villains are on the island, one destroyed the port and communications tower, and another was caught and is being held away from everyone. The last two have been fighting, one on the beach and the one you just left with Izuku and Katsumi." She said as she made more medical supplies to treat the kids for some scrapes.
Seeing her and the others had everything under control, Carter flew back to the forest to find Izuku and Katsumi passed out with Nine long gone. Sighing, he scooped them up and took them back to the clinic so that they could get some help.
Hours later, Izuku and Katsumi still had not woken up as the damage to their bodies kept them unconscious. The team that went to fight the beach villain came back at one point covered in bruises. Turns out the villain could take strength from animals and make it his own, giving him the power to push back several students and escape.
Looking up at the moon, Carter decided to go looking for Nine as he left the others at the clinic, planning something to take down the villains. It didn't take long for him to find the remaining villains camping out in the lighthouse, where they were rightfully alarmed when a massive dragon landed outside.
"Relax, I just want to talk." He said as Slice and Chimera stared at him warily, only Nine met his gaze. "You said you could cure me?" He asked as his companion's eyes widened. "I could-" Carter mused as he sat down. "First, I want to know how you got your hands on that quirk, and what you plan to do with it." Nine weighed his options for a moment before deciding to play along.
"My primary quirk is that of Weather Manipulation; it's as powerful as it sounds, but it comes at a cost of degradation of my cellular tissues." Nine said as Carter nodded, intrigued. "To remedy this, I volunteered for an experiment the Doctor was conducting. I was given a lesser version of AFO's quirk, but instead of helping, it has only made my condition worse." He said as Carter asked, "How many quirks can you hold at once?" "Nine."
'Not a bad amount for a nerfed version of All For One, but I can just buy the real thing, so eh.'
"What are you looking for on the island?" He asked as Nine explained how he was looking for a quirk that would heal his cells faster than they were being torn apart. Turns out the boy, Katsuma, was the one he was looking for. "Well, I can just heal you, so you don't need the kid. Besides, what will you do once you have his quirk?" He said fishing for more information.
"You can heal me…?" Nine's voice was low, measured, not disbelief, but calculation. His eyes narrowed slightly, searching Carter's expression for any hint of deceit. "If that's true, then you're offering me something I've chased through storms and blood. To be whole again to fight without feeling my body rot beneath me." He paused, then shook his head faintly.
"But understand the boy's quirk isn't just recovery. It's permanence. No strain, no injury, no degradation… ever. That's the kind of power that removes limits. And limits are what keep the strong chained to the same ground as the weak."
Nine leaned forward slightly, his tone still calm but laced with conviction. "If I accept your offer, maybe I will survive today. If I take his quirk, I will survive forever. And with that, I can build a world where only strength decides who stands at the top."
Carter gazed into Nine's eyes; he wanted to just rip into his mind, but decided not to. "Our ideals aren't that far apart. I would see the strong rise up and take control, pushing the weak and helpless into a gilded cage where they can watch as those with real power shape the world, but our end goals are different." He said, standing and shaking his wings. "You seek a world where the strong have absolute control. I seek something else entirely. Vengeance."
Nine stared up at the dragon before him, taking in the sight of blue scales and talons. He didn't doubt for a moment that Carter could rip him to shreds in seconds. "Stain was right to warn me about you." He said, finally. "You ARE a monster."